Main battle tanks and like vehicles are often assigned tasks other than combat when performing their missions. Such tasks include retrieval of inoperative vehicles from a combat area or clearing a mine field or a portion thereof to allow safe passage of an advancing force. Accompanying the mine clearing function is the function of marking the lane or passageway that has been cleared, the latter function accomplished by a dispenser on the tank which automatically deploys lane markers at the outer boundaries of the cleared passageway. Since the lane to be marked is wider than the tank, it is desired to position lane marking dispensers outboard of the tank at either side thereof during the lane marking process. However, when the tank is not marking lanes, it is desired to retract the dispenser inboard of the tank so that the dispenser is less susceptible to damage during cross-terrain travel of the tank. Optimally, the dispenser will be retracted to a position directly ahead of or behind the tank, whereby the tank can travel in reverse or forward gear, with the dispenser trailing the hull and protected thereby.
My invention achieves the foregoing goals by mounting a lane marker dispenser or other accessory to a vehicle such that the accessory deploys outboard and retracts inboard at the front or rear of the vehicle. The invention has cylinders fixed to the vehicle, shafts translatable in the cylinders, an accessory bracket fixed to the shafts, a shield to protect the accessory and a shield bracket fixed to one of the shafts. The accessory pivots on the accessory bracket on the same axis as the shield pivots on the shield bracket. The shield and its bracket can translate toward or away from the accessory bracket on this axis so that the shield covers or uncovers the accessory. My invention also has structure to lock the shield to the accessory when their respective brackets are close together.